Kill or Severely Harm?
by EmbarrassingOldFic
Summary: Its R/H fluff. Yet another summer before 5th year fic, Hermione and Harry go to the Burrow... you know the sort of thing! Don't be scared off by the title, its not violent, I was just at a bit of a loss as to what to call it!
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to J.K.Rowling - I am merely borrowing them and promise to return them in as good condition as possible :)

**Title:** Kill or Severely Harm?

**Rating:** Pg-13 for swearing (I'm covering my back here – I tend to swear more than I realise so I am being cautious!) and a few little kisses that will (hopefully) appear in future chapters.

**Pairing:** R/H… eventually! Possibly a few hints of H/G - I think I do it unconsciously!

**Summary:** Yeah, it's yet another 4th-5th year Summer fic. Surprised? I wasn't! I doubt its mind-blowing but one can never have enough R/H fluff (!) and that's what it is. Long, very drawn out fluff, but fluff nonetheless. I am afraid I have probably skated over Harry's feelings in my haste to get to the R/H stuff – sorry, but I wasn't in the mood for Harry to be sad and troubled, he is much easier to write when he is happy-ish! Oh, also the title is a little misleading, it is a line from the fic but does not indicate that I will be killing or severly harming **any** of the characters in this fic! As promised in the disclaimer, I am taking very good care of them :)

**Formatting:** Well, it's beautiful on my computer but sadly uploading it messes all that up so you will have to try to figure out what I'm talking about… sentences in **_Bold and Italics_** are thoughts, and random words in **Bold** are just emphasises in speech. That's about all it will do!

**A/I/O (Author's Insecurity Outlet):** O.K. this is my first try at any sort of writing at all (ahhh!) but I've been reading HP fics religiously for years (yep, I know I'm sad!) so I thought it really was time I had a go myself. I had no idea it would be this hard! I find myself re-reading what I have written and criticising it, but not knowing how to fix the problems! I have always tried to offer constructive criticism in reviews where necessary and so find quite a lot to say about my own writing – I just wish I knew how to act upon it! I just want to congratulate all those other authors who have managed to do this already – I never would have thought it would be this hard! O.K. also, I know that the BSE thing was a few years ago, but since the books are set a few years ago anyway I thought I could get away with it :). I know this is moving really slowly, I don't really know what to do about it, I don't really have much control over the characters yet (which is one of the reasons I am so sure Ron and Hermione are going to get together - they are doing this on their own I swear! I mean **I** can't write fics!) but bear with me, I promise something will happen sooner or later! Um, lastly, I have just read over the chapters I will be posting and I really think the second one is better than the first. It is less clichéd and… oh well basically **please** don't stop reading after just the first chapter, I am posting two at a time so you can get a better idea of what the story will be like! Ok, I guess I had better let you actually read it now… off you go (eep!).

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**Chapter One.** (no, I have no inventive titles!)

  Hermione sat at her desk trying unsuccessfully to her holiday work for the summer. She had been sitting there for the past hour staring out the window and fiddling with a strand of her hair. At one point, she had tied it back in an attempt to stop it distracting her, but it, having a mind of its own, had started coming out almost immediately and she had given up with a frustrated sigh. She couldn't believe how far behind with her work she was this year! She had of course read all of next years books, and she had completed her Arithmancy calculations in the first few days of the holiday, followed fairly swiftly by her Transfiguration essay (14ft she reminded herself – even Hermione was proud of that one!) and her research into the causes of the Goblin rebellion of 1498 for History of Magic (apparently the Goblins were furious about the Law passed earlier that year that wands should be proportional in size to the height – among other things – of the user. Goblins saw the size of their wands as an indication of their social status and, being rather a lot shorter than the average magical being, they were not too pleased with the new ruling!). However, Hermione still had a rather lengthy Potions essay to complete along with a few incantations to research for Charms and she couldn't help but remind herself that by this time last year, she had finished all of her work and read some of her books twice! Her parents hadn't exactly been helpful either, not that it was really their fault, they had just been trying to spend as much time as possible with her because they missed her during the school year since she usually stayed at Hogwarts with Ron and Harry during the shorter holidays. Although Hermione could understand this and had missed them too, she was now feeling very behind with her work and was wishing she had done more of it earlier in the holiday. She now only had three weeks left and was hoping to spend some of that time at the Burrow, which left her much less time to work than she really would have liked. **_Mind you_**she thought, **_I don't suppose Ron has even started his work!_ **She smiled at the thought of Ron, then frowned when she thought of the letter he had sent her.

Dear Hermione, 

  Hi, how are you? I suppose you've done all your work already! **_Oh god my work, arrrrgh, he has NO idea!_** I have been playing Quidditch loads, I think I might try for Keeper next year… I dunno, don't tell anyone o.k. 'cause I don't know if I will or not. **_Who exactly would I tell?_** So, did you go anywhere nice this summer? I hope you didn't go to Bulgaria, I heard there is some sort of disease over there which makes the cows go nuts, I think it affects people too, especially Quidditch players, yeah, they must eat lots of meat and stuff so it can't be good for them! **_O.K. how stupid does he think I am? Honestly! And Mad Cow disease has certainly NOT spread to Bulgaria!_**Anyway, have you heard from Harry? He wrote to me a while ago and he seems a bit subdued… maybe I could invite him over for the last few weeks of the holiday? You could come too! Do you think Dumbledore would let him, I think he said something about not letting him stay all summer, I'll get Mum and Dad to owl him and ask. Well, I hope you're o.k. and maybe I'll see you soon-ish?

Ron

  Hermione had been slightly pacified by the latter (less annoying) half of the letter, but had still put it down hard on the desk, grabbed a quill and written back angrily:

Dear Ron,

  The disease you are talking about is called "BSE" aka Mad Cow disease and it has NOT spread to Bulgaria. It is in fact only in Britain and so if you are worried about me getting it, then I would suggest you ENCOURAGE me to go to places like Bulgaria where I would be much safer. Also, a simple charm has been developed to rid the meat of the disease and you would know that if you had read the section in our charms book about research techniques, so PLEASE don't try to tell me what to do when you have no idea what you are talking about!

  Sorry Ron, I don't mean to be snappy, but contrary to popular belief, I have NOT done all my work and I am getting a little worried about it. As to what you mentioned about Harry – I think it's a really good idea, it can't be nice for him cooped up in that house with his family (can they even be called that?), I am sure he would love to get out a few weeks early. As for me, I think I might be able to come, but I would need to know when before I tell my parents – they have been really overprotective recently (they didn't let me go to Bulgaria, so good for you, gloat all you want…) so I would need to have it pretty much sorted before I asked them. Write back soon if you can get Dumbledore to let Harry come over to the Burrow and let me know what is happening.

Love Hermione

xxx

P.S. I definitely think you should try for Keeper, you would be really good at it!

  Hermione had sent this letter a few days ago and was expecting a reply within the next few days. **_Maybe that's why I can't concentrate… no, a letter from Ron wouldn't make me this distracted, its not like its anything special…_**She tried to settle down and get on with her Potions essay, somewhat more successfully than earlier, but she still hadn't written very much before she heard a tap at the window. She looked up to see Pig flying in extremely fast, tight circles outside her window**_I don't know how that owl always manages to have so much energy!_******She stood up and opened her window and the tiny owl came hurtling in, dropped a letter on her desk and proceeded to perform a series of startling manoeuvres around her ceiling. While she marvelled at his acrobatic ability, watching him was making her rather dizzy, so she left him to it and went to read her letter.

Dear Hermione,

  Don't worry about being grouchy, I've become used to it over the years (no, only kidding, please don't kill me!!!). Hermione, I haven't even started my work **_Ha, I KNEW it!_**so I don't know what you are getting so worried about, I'm sure you will be fine, it's just the way things are, you worry (even though you are always top of the year) and I don't (even though I probably should!). 

  Dumbledore said we can have Harry over for the rest of the holiday, so we are picking him up on Saturday (it's the earliest we can get a car, I think its best we pick him up like that after what happened last year… **_I'm sure Harry will appreciate that!_** ) so if you want to ask your parents if you can come too then say we could pick you up on the way to Harry's if that would make things easier.

  Do you really think I would be good as keeper? I might give it a go then, I mean, I might as well right? Just hope no one sees me, I'm bound t0 mess up and do something stupid**.  ****_I never realised he was so insecure about what people think of him, I wonder why he is telling me?_**

  Well anyway, tell me whether or not you can come, and if you can we will pick you up on Saturday at about 11 0'clock (morning, not evening!) o.k.?

Ron

P.S. You will be pleased to hear that I have gloated all I can, I thought it was best to get it out of the way before I saw you so you didn't get even more grouchy than you already are (!) **_WHAT?!?_**_._Ginny is now ready to kill me though, oh well! Bye!

  Hermione smiled to herself at the thought of seeing her friends again. It was funny, but even though she spent all year with them, only a few weeks away from them made her realise how much she missed them. Perhaps it was _because_ she spent her entire year with them that she missed them when they weren't there, but whatever it was, she found herself eagerly awaiting Saturday morning.

  As she re-read the letter, she laughed and tried to envisage Ginny killing Ron, all that appeared in her mind was a picture of Ginny, who was at least a head shorter than Ron, beating uselessly at his chest while he stood there grinning that cute **_Cute? Did I just think that? Yes, apparently I did!_** lopsided grin of his. Hermione felt her face grow slightly warmer as she thought of him and shook her head forcefully.

  "Hermione, don't be stupid, this is **Ron**" she said out loud, but she knew that she was only kidding herself, her feelings for Ron were certainly not the same as her feelings for Harry, and she could make a fairly good guess as to why that was, she just didn't want to think about it.

  To distract herself from this (rather unwelcome) train of thought, she decided to go and ask her mother about going to the Burrow. She made sure Pig was still safely (?) in her room doing his magical flying circus act, and went downstairs to find her.

  "Muuuuuuuum…" Hermione said with a cheeky smile on her face.

Mrs. Granger looked up from her desk, raised one eyebrow and smiled back.  "Let me guess, you want something? How **did** I come to that conclusion?"

  "Its your astounding intelligence and unprecedented ability to read minds I guess!" Hermione replied, attempting to look innocent.

  "Well I somehow doubt that, isn't that more likely to be something you would learn?"

  "No Mum, mind-reading is **not** something they teach to unscrupulous eleven-year-olds!" Hermione said, still smiling, "not even to unscrupulous 15-year-olds!" she added as an after thought.

  "O.k. I suppose I just know you too well! What did you want?"

  "Well, Ron just sent me a letter and he asked if I wanted to go and stay at the Burrow for the rest of the holidays. Harry is going too, and they are picking him up on Saturday and Ron said that they could pick me up on the way, they would be here at about 11 o'clock, and I know that I spend all year with Ron and Harry and I've only spent a few weeks with you and Dad, but I really miss them and I really want to go to the Burrow again, and well… I just really want to see them Mum." All this was said very fast and in one breath, so Hermione took a huge gulp of air as she waited to see what her mum would say. Once she had caught her breath, Hermione noticed that her mother was giving her a strange look. **_Oh no, what's that about, what did I say? Have I gone red thinking about seeing Ron again? Oh, well if I hadn't, I certainly have now! Oh god, what is that look for?_**

  "Um… what's wrong Mum?" 

Her mother seemed to notice that she had been staring and smiled a little guiltily. "Oh, sorry dear, I just noticed that now it's 'Ron and Harry,' and I distinctly remember it used to be 'Harry and Ron.'" She gave a small smile and raised her eyebrow again. 

  Hermione turned bright red. **_Is it that obvious? It can't just be because of the way I say their names, but whatever it is, she has noticed. Oh god, I hope no one else has noticed. Arrrgh!_******

  "Wh-What?" she stammered.

  "Oh its nothing dear, don't worry about it, I just wondered…" The two stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say, and then,

  "Is it really that obvious?" Hermione asked in a small voice. She was not used to talking about this sort of thing with anyone, let alone her mother, but she suddenly felt that she really needed to say something. Her mother looked vaguely surprised, but pleased nonetheless

  "Well, only to me, and like I said, I just know you too well. Don't worry, I'm sure no one else has noticed." She gave Hermione a reassuring smile "Do you want to talk about it?"

  Hermione thought for a minute, she didn't really want to discuss it because that would mean thinking about it when she had been avoiding doing just that for, well, she had no-idea how long really, but she didn't want to pass up the opportunity for some advice about something she was fairly new to.

  "Um, I don't know, not really, but…"  
  "…you want some advice?" **_How does she do that? Its uncanny!_**

  "Well, yes. I just have no idea what to _do_ in this situation, I mean I am pretty sure I like him… Ron… that is." Hermione raised her head cautiously and saw her mother smile knowingly and nod. **_Wow, its good to finally admit that, but this is so embarrassing, how am I supposed to say this?_** Hermione ducked her head again and continued "…but I, uh, well, I don't know if he likes me back, and even if he does I don't want to mess up our friendship, and what will Harry think, and what will everyone else think, and…" Now that she had finally admitted her feelings and started thinking about them, a whole hoard of unanswered questions started building up in Hermione's mind and she began to panic.

  "Hermione, calm down," said her mother in a pacifying voice, "the most simple, helpful piece of advice I can give you is that this sort of thing is not something you can 'work out.'" Hermione groaned and slumped forward on the table, head in her arms as her mother continued,  "there is no set answer, you just have to do what you want to, it is best not to try to predict what the consequences of your actions will be because you are bound to be wrong, just do whatever seems right at that moment." Mrs. Granger smiled at her daughter, and with a small chuckle at the face Hermione was pulling, she added "and don't worry, trust me, it isn't worth it!"

  Hermione sighed but had the sense to see that this was actually very sound advice. "Thanks Mum, I do worry a bit too much don't I?" she said with a hint of a smile on her lips.

  "Oh, well that **is** a 'Granger woman' family trait, you learn to get over it though, I mean look at me!" She smiled wryly and Hermione nodded.

  "Well, you haven't done too badly if you started out anything like me! I'll give it a go…" Hermione paused, and added hopefully, "starting by going and having fun with my friends in the last two weeks of my summer holidays?" She crossed her fingers and looked up expectantly at her mother.

  Mrs. Granger smiled and rolled her eyes. "Well, I will have to discuss it with your father, but I am sure he will agree that you need to go and have some fun without us." She smiled at the delighted expression that Hermione was now sporting. "Go on, send Ron an owl saying 'thank you very much' and tell him that you can go. Oh, and don't forget to thank Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for inviting you!"

  Hermione huffed, "Mum, I am not **that** ill mannered! Have a little faith!"

  Mrs. Granger smiled and nodded her head in acquiescence, "I do Hermione, you make me very proud you know."

  Hermione blushed and nodded, pleased at the praise but slightly shy at accepting it.

  Mrs. Granger paused a moment in thought, then continued, "Oh, and Hermione?"

  As their eyes met once again, Hermione saw a glint in her mother's eyes, which she recognised unmistakeably as mischief. "Yes…?" she prompted unsurely.

  "Make sure this Ron boy appreciates what he is getting, will you? He is a very lucky young man."

  Hermione grinned "Oh don't worry Mum, I'm hardly about to fall at his feet like Lavender and Parvati would!" Seeing the mildly confused look that crossed her mother's face at the mention of these two names, she waved her hand to dismiss the comment. "Forget it, sorry, I just mean that although the situation is not entirely in my hands, I'm not planning on making it **too** easy for him!"

  "Alright love," replied Mrs. Granger with a smile "I hope it all turns out the way you want it to"

  "Thanks Mum" replied Hermione, feeling immensely grateful that her Mother had been so understanding about the whole situation. With a last smile, she placed a quick kiss on Mrs. Granger's cheek and went back upstairs to write the letter.

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Dearest Darling Ronald  (cough cough splutter!),

  I am NOT grouchy. I just care a little about my work! And I am not sure whether I should be happy that you won't be gloating when I get to your house or angry that you have driven poor Ginny up the wall! Either way, I suppose one of us will have killed (or at least severely harmed) you by the end of the summer so I don't suppose it matters! Are you still looking forward to seeing me? Well it doesn't really matter, because, in case you hadn't realised, I can come! I suggest you invest in a few bodyguards, perhaps Fred and George would oblige!

  O.K, seriously, I am really looking forward to coming, and I am sure it will be good for Harry to get out of that house, he must be really miserable. If you could pick me up on the way to his that would be great! Just one thing though, if you haven't started your work by the time I get to your house, I won't be speaking to you for the rest of the holidays.

  Happy Studying!

    Love Hermione

      xxx

 Hermione smiled at the last few lines of her letter, **_Nothing like a little bribery to get him started on his work!_******She folded up the parchment, addressed it to Ron and then looked up as she prepared herself for the task ahead… SOMEHOW she was going to have to get that owl to stay still for long enough to tie her letter to his leg!


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two.**

  Ron lay outstretched on his bed with his hands behind his head and his long legs crossed at the ankles. His feet stuck out a good few inches from the bottom of the bed, but he was used to it and was far more interested in the Chudley Cannons posters that littered his ceiling. His eyes were focused on one in particular, and they darted too and fro following the action that was taking place. **_Hmmm, blocked that one well, I wonder how he knew they were bluffing with the tiered attack formation, I suppose it wouldn't have been the wisest move to pull at the time and he knows they don't make slip-ups like that…_******Ron's mind raced as he analysed the strategies of the attacking team and the logic of the keeper. This was what he did best, even better than chess, though really the two things were very similar. It was all about knowing what options you had and correctly anticipating the moves of the other player/team and putting these two things together to outsmart and out-manoeuvre the opposition. Ron relished the challenge and could spend hours every day just watching his posters to see what they would do. No-one knew he did this, his family just assumed that he was sleeping all that time and put it down to the huge amount Ron was growing. This didn't bother Ron, as long as they left him to do it, he didn't really mind what they were thinking.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang against his window. He grinned and leapt up to see the tiny form of Pig attempting to extract himself from the pot of soil on the windowsill after having crashed headlong into the window.

 "Stupid git," Ron chided in a mock-angry voice, as he struggled to open his small window. There had once been flowers in the pot but, much to Mrs Weasley's distress, ever since Pig had arrived at the Burrow, flowers were becoming more and more rare. The first reason was that Pig did tend to ignore transparent barriers such as windows, which resulted in many a situation like this, where Pig ended up crushing anything and everything that resided below windows. The second reason was that Pig, being of rather small stature, found it difficult to find other owls his size to play with, and, having discovered flowers, had decided that they would make the perfect playmates. He then insisted on challenging every poor un-suspecting flower he saw to a duel, which resulted in a huge ego boost for Pig and, sadly, many trips to the garden centre for Mrs Weasley! Fred and George had offered to charm some of the flowers so that they had a chance to fight back, but Ginny (with the sound backing of Mrs Weasley) would have none of it! She loved Pig almost as much as Ron did and would always defend anything he did, which worked out quite well for Ron, as he got what he wanted (Pig forgiven!) and he didn't have face the taunts of Fred and George for defending a small fluffy owl.

  Having saved Pig from the depths of the flowerpot, Ron held him firmly in his hand as he made his way over to his desk. Ron reached for the Owl Treats and waved one in front of Pig to get his attention. Pig was immediately still and Ron untied the letter with very little hassle, and fed Pig the treat. Ron eyed the very dishevelled letter from Hermione and chuckled to himself,

  "She still hasn't worked out how to calm you down eh Pig? Did you give her trouble getting this on?"

  Pig gave an affirmative "Hoot", and, having finished with the first Owl Treat, proceeded to search for the bag.

  "Ahh, good boy," said Ron, missing the intention of the curious pecking. He sat in his chair, leaned back and put his feet up on the desk. "I wish I could have seen that!" Grinning at the mental images of a frustrated Hermione clambering around her room in an attempt to catch Pig, Ron unfolded the letter. He almost lost his balance on the chair, laughing as he read it. **_Well I never, Hermione has a sense of humour! You learn something new every day. I guess I am having an effect on her after all!_****_ So, I'll see her on Saturday eh? Well I had better get some work done, wouldn't want her to have to keep silent as she "kills or severely harms" me now would I? _**Ron grinned as an idea came to him; he got out a piece of parchment and a quill and scribbled in his most untidy writing:

Ron Weasley

The great Goblin Rebellion of 1498

  He then put the quill away and admired his handiwork chuckling gleefully to himself **_ Well, I've started my work, she can't complain! Oh its SO much fun winding Hermione up, and I'm just too good at it!_**

  Ron put down the parchment, still grinning to himself and picked up a new one. In his best writing, he wrote:

 Hermione My Love (cough, choke, retch),

  I am somewhat disappointed at the shabby presentation of your letters, they always arrive in terrible condition and I doubt that it is Pig's fault, as everyone else seems to manage quite admirably. Are you perhaps having trouble with getting Pig to sit still? If you need help, you only need to ask and I will explain to you how to manage him, although I must admit, I am surprised you couldn't figure it out for yourself!

  I am **so** looking forward to seeing you again, and the added bonus of watching you and Ginny attempt to harm me will only add to the fun! I simply can't wait for Saturday!

  Yours in anticipation,

    Ron

  He folded up the letter as neatly as he could and looked up to his ceiling, expecting to find Pig there practicing his loop-the-loops. When he saw no sign of the excitable bird, he frowned and scanned the rest of the room for signs of life. A small sound of rustling brought his attention to his desk, where, right on the corner was the bag of Owl Treats wriggling back and forth.

  "PIG!" shouted Ron, and immediately regretted it as the bag gave a frightened leap, which succeeded in launching it off the desk and onto the floor.

  "Bollocks!" muttered Ron as he made his way over to the mess on the floor, bending down and scooping up the bag.  He peered inside to find that Pig was now it's sole occupier.

  "Thanks Pig - make sure everything that **should** be in the bag ends up in a **mess** on the floor, and everything that should be waiting **patiently** on my desk ends up covered in crumbs in the bag – fan-bloody-tastic." Ron said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Pig seemed to get the message because when, a moment later, he was tipped headfirst onto the desk, he didn't make a sound and quickly started to dislodge the crumbs from his feathers as Ron scraped the remaining Owl Treats off the floor.

  Ron's mood lightened significantly when, having cleared the floor to a suitable extent, he sat down and remembered Hermione's letter. Picking it up he turned a stern gaze on Pig, who was now looking quietly at the desk as he hopped nervously from one foot to the other. Ron shook his head and gave a small chuckle "You know, you're bloody lucky you are good for annoying Hermione 'cause if you weren't, I would be giving Errol this job." He had to laugh out loud at the panic in Pig's eyes at the mention of Errol. The little bird tended to associate that word with scoldings (and rightly so, they tended to be along the lines of "For Heaven's sake Pig, Errol could have done a better job!"). Ron gave the quivering bird a quick stroke on the head to indicate that he was no longer annoyed and then took advantage of this rare moment of stillness to tie the pristine letter to his leg.

  "Pig, I want this to arrive at Hermione's in absolutely perfect condition, understand? No stopping for rolling in the dust or fighting with flowers or whatever else you do, just bring it straight to her, ok?"

 Pig managed to look disconcertingly eager and reliable, but after narrowing his eyes and giving him the once over, Ron couldn't see that there was much he should be suspicious about, so he opened the window and gave Pig the customary shove to get him on his way. Ron smirked as he imagined the look on Hermione's face as she read the letter **_Yep, I really must have a talent for winding her up! Well, all the more fun for me!_** He shrugged and left his room, making a huge racket as he took the stairs two at a time, fuelled by his most recent thought, **_Mmmm, food sounds good!_**

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  Ron bounded into the kitchen and flopped into a seat next to Ginny. She was sitting at the table crouched over something and peering at it intently.

  "Watcha doin'" asked Ron in an inquisitive voice, poking her side.

  Ginny wriggled and looked up from her task, which Ron could now see was a set of old robes she was trying to mend. She gave him a look "Mum, Ron's been inside for too long, I think you need to give him something to do, he looks bored" she smirked at him and went back to her work.

  Mrs Weasley turned round from the sink "Ahh, yes Ron, I could really do with some help in the…"

  "Um yeah, Mum, I'm actually busy with… well um, I'm just really busy, anyway, I just came down for something to eat and to tell you that Hermione can come to stay with us, I said we would pick her up on the way to Harry's, is that ok?"

  "Ooooh, **Hermione's** coming to stay is she?" piped up Ginny, suddenly very interested in the conversation. "Won't **that** be fun Ron?" She was now wiggling her eyebrows at him and giving him a knowing look.

  "Um, yeah?" said Ron, confused "Why wouldn't it be? **Oh**, I see, you know about her plot to kill or severely harm me, is that it, well I would like to see you try, even with both of you!" He folded his arms and looked smugly at his sister, waiting for a reply.

  It was Ginny's turn to look confused, but she replied sarcastically, "Yes Ron, that's **exactly** what I'm talking about, " and shook her head in mock-pity at him.

  Ron shrugged off the strange behaviour and turned to Mrs Weasley.

  "Yeah, well I just thought I'd tell you so you don't have a panic the night before they arrive about how nobody told you they were coming. Anyway, have you got anything to eat?"

  Mrs Weasley muttered something about bottomless pits and waved her wand about and Ron watched happily as a ham sandwich begun to make itself.

  He then turned his attention back to Ginny who was now huffing about how she was never going to be able to mend these robes and have them looking respectable, and he was glad that for once he had new robes. Ron had grown so tall over the summer that none of the old school robes the Weasley's had from his older brothers came close to fitting him and he had consequently been bought a whole new set of robes. Fred and George had also bought him a new set of dress robes, saying that the last set were, "A disgrace to the Weasley name." Ron had to agree with this, but still didn't trust that the twins would do something like this out of the kindness of their hearts, so he had gone to try them on in his room and had found that, lo-and-behold, they turned invisible when you put them on! Unfortunately for Ron, they did not also turn the wearer invisible, but merely made them look as if they were wearing no clothes at all. Furious, Ron had shouted at the twins for a good ten minutes while they protested innocence and claimed that the witch in the shop had obviously fancied them and was just trying to get a look at them in their birthday suits. This Muggle terminology had confused Ron and it was at about this point that he had given up and stormed back to his room. Ron frowned as he remembered the incident, then brightened when he thought of Hermione. **_Ahh, brilliant Ron, you genius, of course she will know how to reverse the spell and then you will have a lovely new set of dress robes courtesy of Gred and Forge!_**

  "Thinking of Hermione are you?" teased Ginny, who had looked up from her mending to see Ron grinning stupidly.

  "Uh, yes actually, how did you know?" asked Ron, confused once again.

  Ginny stared at him for a moment looking incredulous and then muttered something about boys being clueless and went back to her work. Ron just shook his head and grabbed the newly made sandwich, eager to get out of sight of Ginny. She was obviously in one of her stranger moods and Ron had no wish to witness **that**! He took a huge bite of sandwich and resolved to try to convince Fred and George to have a game of Quidditch with him, it was all very well spending hours thinking about it, but if he wanted to make it onto the team he was going to have to put in a bit of practice!

**A/N:** Well if you have read this far, thank you (!) and please review to let me know what you think of it. I have quite a few more chapters ready but I am reluctant to post them too fast coz it has taken me MONTHS to get even this far and I don't want to have to keep people waiting for months on end between chapters as I actually write them. Any constructive criticism is very welcome and any hints on how to use those ideas would be a godsend! I guess I'll post more if people seem interested so let me know ok?


	3. Chapter Three

A/N: Sorry this took so long, as I said, I had it written but I haven't had time to post it (poor excuse I know!). Well my fingers are too cold to type at the moment, so I'll just leave you to it!

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**Chapter Three.**

  Hermione was running round her room packing a few last-minute items into her trunk. It was ten thirty on Saturday morning and she would be leaving for the Burrow in half an hour. As she took one last look around her bedroom, she spotted some pieces of parchment on the desk. Walking over she realised that there were her letters from Ron. She paused, unsure of what to do with them, she had the wildest urge to bring them with her, although she would normally put them in the old shoebox where she kept all her letters. **_Come on Hermione, you're being silly, just put them in the box and go down for breakfast_**. But against everything her brain was saying, she took them and stuffed them inside the book she used as a Journal**_._****_  Well, there's no harm in bringing them with me is there?_** She shut the book and placed it back in her trunk, which she then proceeded to sit on in an attempt to shut it. After much bouncing and shoving, she finally managed to shut the trunk and stood up with a triumphant grin. It was at this point that she caught sight of herself in the mirror; she was wearing jeans, a T-shirt (rather tighter than she was used to wearing, but she and her mother had gone shopping over the summer and had bought Hermione quite a few new clothes and she wanted to make the most of them while she could!). She was also wearing the tiniest hint of make-up (another recent addition!) and despite the relatively old-looking trainers would have looked presentable had it not been for her hair. Oh her hair. It had escaped from the rather neat bun she had managed to drag it into that morning and was now cascading all over her shoulders and absolutely dwarfing her head. **_HOW does it manage to behave like this at the worst times? Ron, Ginny and Mr Weasley will be here in under half an hour and I still have to have breakfast and say good-bye to my parents!_** Hermione gave a frustrated half-shriek and burst out of her room in search of a hairbrush. She ran straight into Mrs Granger who couldn't help but laugh at the state of her daughter.

  "Um dear, what has happened to your hair, you look like…"

  "Yes, thanks for the support Mum, I know **exactly** what I look like, right now I just need to find a hairbrush, I've already packed mine and I am **not** opening my trunk again, that's what caused this mess in the first place!"

  "Alright, sorry dear but you do look quite comical!" This comment was greeted by a death glare from Hermione and Mrs Granger went on quickly, "Right, well you can borrow my hair brush if you want, I'll go down and get your breakfast ready, ok?"

  Pacified, Hermione gave her mother a quick smile and rushed off to her parents' bedroom in search of a brush.

  Ten minutes later, Hermione emerged from the bedroom with her hair once again in a relatively neat bun. There would inevitably be a few bits that escaped as the day wore on, but on the whole she was pleased with her efforts. She went back into her own bedroom to find that her trunk was gone, so she went downstairs to find her parents. She entered the kitchen and saw them both sitting at the small table, and next to them on the floor was her trunk with Crookshanks happily asleep on top.

  "Oh thanks, I really wasn't looking forward to lugging that downstairs!" she said, gesturing towards the large chest-like thing. As she sat down at the table, she cast a fond look at Crookshanks. "I see he has found himself a new bed!" she chuckled as she helped herself to Cornflakes and milk. Crookshanks pointedly ignored them all and could well have been asleep had it not been for the slight twitching of his ear every time she spoke. Hermione knew well the antics of her cat and gave his head a quick stroke before she tucked in to her food.

  "Hungry are you?" commented her father with a laugh as Hermione devoured the whole bowl in minutes and started on the next.

  "Yes, well," said Hermione blushing slightly and slowing the pace of her shovelling, "I **have** been up since seven thirty and I haven't had anything to eat yet!"

  "All right all right, I was only teasing!" replied her father with a twinkle in his eye, "So who's this Ron chap you're so eager to visit?"

  "Robert…" warned Mrs Granger.  

  "Helen…" he replied, imitating her tone of voice.

  Mrs Granger responded with one of the looks that the Granger women were famous for, but it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest - obviously over-exposure causes one to develop some sort of immunity – and he turned back to Hermione. She had turned bright red and was staring intently at her Cornflakes.

  "Well?" he encouraged, trying hard not to grin too widely.

  She gave him an absolute glare, which only caused the subdued grin to break out across his face.

  Hermione continued glaring and replied in a frosty voice "Ron is my **friend.** I have been friends with him for over four years and I'm surprised you don't know who he is by now. I am going to stay at his house along with Harry - that's my other best friend for your information, as you seem to be feeling particularly slow this morning - and since I did the same thing last year I really don't know what you are making such a fuss about." With this she went back to her Cornflakes and made sure to bang her spoon against the bowl a few times for effect.

  Guessing that he had probably gone a little too far, Mr Granger leant forward and in a quieter voice said "Hermione, I'm sorry, it's just that this is the only time I ever get to tease you about boys and…" she had looked up, eyebrows raised, and given him the 'That is no excuse and I am still not amused' look. "Well, anyway, I'm sorry and I don't want you to leave in a bad mood just because I'm being annoying."

  Hermione sighed, "S'ok Dad, I've just had a really hectic morning and I guess I'm a bit highly-strung, BUT," she continued seeing the mischievous look re-appear on his face "that doesn't mean that I wouldn't normally mind you teasing me about… **that.** Just don't, ok?"

  "Alright dear," said Mrs Granger, trying to change the subject, "do you have everything packed? Books, robes, all your Potions ingredients and things?"

  "Yes Mum, I'm pretty sure I have it all, and if I don't you are going to have to post it to me, I am absolutely **not** opening that trunk again until I reach Ron's house."

  "Speaking of Ron, is that him in the garden?"

  Hermione turned round in her chair and looked out of the window to see Ron coming up the garden path. She flushed involuntarily and turned back to her parents. She caught her mother giving her father another warning look and rather than suffer more of his teasing, she got up and went to meet Ron.

  She opened the door to a startled looking Ron who, by all appearances, had been just about to knock.

  "Uh, hi" he said, still ruffled.

  "Hi Ron, I saw you coming up the path from the kitchen window."

  "Ah," he said, more relaxed, "I thought you'd been learning some predictive magic or something, I was starting to worry that there'd be nothing left for them to teach you at Hogwarts!"

  "Oh come on, I'm not that bad!" she said with a laugh while taking in his appearance. He had grown even more over the summer, and filled out a bit too. It looked as if Mrs. Weasley had tied him down and given him a haircut - when she had last seen him, his hair had just reached the stage where it was too long for the style it had been cut in, but now it was short and spiky. Hermione had a sudden urge to touch it and see if it was gelled or something but imagining the look on Ron's face, she restrained herself and smiled up at him.

  "Ron, **how** is it possible that you have grown even more?"

  He grinned at her "Ah, well Hermione, its just one of my many gifts," he looked her up and down, "obviously one of the few you don't also have!"

  "Hmmm," she replied placing her finger to her lip and crossing her other arm over her chest, "I'm not sure whether to be pleased at the compliment or angry at your blatant prejudice against vertically challenged people…" She gave him a quizzical look before stomping her foot comically, "and I'm not **that** short!"

  He grinned and stepped closer to her, looking down to emphasize the height difference as much as he could, then smirked and replied sarcastically, "No Hermione, you're not **that** short"

  She took a breath, flustered by their closeness and then punched him in the stomach playfully but hard enough to make him step back. Then she folded her arms and raised her eyebrows, waiting for an apology. He mimicked her position with a huge grin plastered across his face and though she fought hard against the smile that was threatening to erupt, she could feel the corners of her mouth twitching. Ron noticed this but decided to admit defeat nonetheless.

  "All right Hermione, you're not short at all, you are a perfectly normal height, etc etc, please don't get grouchy, I've only been here a few minutes!" his grin widened as he waited for her to explode, but Hermione just shook her head, she knew his teasing almost as well as she knew Crookshanks' attempts at distain and she knew there was no point in reacting to it. If she thought about it, it was really quite a lot of fun this friendly bantering, so she played along.

  "Oh, very funny, I'm not actually all that grouchy Ron, you just seem to be very adept at winding me up, is that another of your many skills?"

  Ron was spared from answering this because Hermione was attacked by a speeding red blur.

  "Hermione!" it squealed as it crashed into her

  "Hi Ginny," she managed to squeak out. Over Ginny's shoulder, Hermione saw Ron laughing at her disposition and she stuck her tongue out at him.

  "Very mature," he mouthed back at her before Ginny pulled back and broke their line of sight.

  "Sorry we took so long, Dad and I were trying to find somewhere to leave the car. Ron simply couldn't wait to see you," she confided in a quiet voice, her eyebrows wiggling up and down as she gave Hermione a knowing grin, "so he got out and came to get you. Anyway, how has your summer been?" Ginny paused, breathless from the running and excited babbling. Hermione was about to answer when her parents and Mr Weasley arrived at the doorway simultaneously from either side and she decided that introducing people would probably be the best thing to do.

  "Mum, Dad, this is Mr Weasley, Ron and Ginny"

  "Pleased to meet you," said Mr Granger, offering his hand to Mr Weasley, who shook it and then turned to Mrs Granger.

  "We met last year when I picked Hermione up by Floo Powder"

  "Ah yes, I remember. Thank you very much for having Hermione to stay two years running, next year we must have Ron and Harry over to stay with us"

  "Oh, it's no problem at all, after our lot Hermione is a dream!" he gave his children a teasing glance.

  "Yes, I heard. Six boys must be a lot to handle!"

  "Well, two of them don't live with us anymore but Ginny more than makes up for that - after the twins she is by far the worst!"

  At this Ginny tried to look innocent, but Ron spoilt the image by tickling her, which she dutifully responded to by thumping him hard on the arm. Realising she had been tricked, she gave Ron a glare but had the decency to look a little embarrassed.

  "Well," Mr Granger chuckled, "at least we know Hermione will be in well trained hands! Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"

  The look on Mr Weasley betrayed the fact that he would dearly love to go inside a Muggle house for a cup of tea, but he restrained himself and replied, "No, much as I would love to, we are supposed to be picking Harry up in an hour and I think it will take almost that to get there, so we really should be on our way."

  So they all made their way to the car Mr Weasley had borrowed form the Ministry of Magic, and Hermione said goodbye to her parents while Ron and Mr Weasley put her trunk in the boot. A few minutes later, Hermione watched as her house and parents disappeared from view, and with a last wave, she turned to Ron and Ginny.

  "So, how **has** your summer been?"

  They chatted for the rest of the journey to Harry's house and, to Hermione's immense relief, Ron stayed off the topic of Bulgarian Quidditch players. It seemed that they had both decided to try to keep un-necessary arguments to a minimum, both by avoiding touchy subjects and also by not blowing up at the slightest annoyance. Hermione was grateful to Ron for having the insight to see that an effort should be made, and though she didn't know whether it was because of Harry or just because he didn't want to fight any more, she was glad of the change.

A/N: Ron being mature? Surely not! I hope this is ok, I feel I am losing the characters a little sometimes, so if they are OOC, please tell me and I will try to do something about it. As always, please review, even a quick "Well done!" does wonders for my writing capabilities!


	4. Chapter Four

Hello again! Well, here is another chapter… it's a little short, but it just seemed like the best place to end it, so I did! Please review, it really makes a difference if you have tons of people nagging at you to write! And it's my 18th on Saturday (hee hee!) so be nice to me will you :) Well, on with the chapter!

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**Chapter Four**

  They arrived at Harry's house just after twelve o'clock, and after a minute debating who should go in to get Harry, they all bundled out of the car and made their way to the front door.

  Mr Weasley knocked on the door and they all waited in anticipation as they heard footsteps coming towards the door. It was opened by a horse-faced woman in a very flowery dress who scowled at the sight of them.

  "Oh, it's you is it? Come to pick him up, eh? Well you are welcome to him. HARRY! Get down here, these people have come for you!" She then turned and went back into the house, slamming the door in their faces.

  Startled by her rudeness, Hermione stood there with her mouth open. She had seen the Dursleys before but had never witnessed first hand the way they treated Harry (and apparently anyone who was friends with Harry!). She must have been gaping like that for quite a while because she was broken out of her reverie by Ron's hand pushing her lower jaw upwards to shut her mouth. **_Oh my god, I was just standing there with my mouth open, I must have looked so ridiculous, and Ron was watching me! Arrgh, and he just had to touch me didn't he? _** She looked over at him, embarrassed and he shrugged at her as if to say 'What can you do but feel sorry for the guy!' **_Well, at least he's not laughing at me!_** She shrugged back and turned to the door, which had just been re-opened to reveal a very excited looking Harry.

  "Oh thank god you're here, I was about to loose it in there! Mr Weasley, thank you so much for having me to stay, I really **really** appreciate it!"

  "Harry, I can't stand the thought of you living with these people, believe me, it is a pleasure to be able to take you away!" replied Mr Weasley with a smile.

  Hermione could contain herself no longer, she flew to Harry giving him a huge hug and exclaiming, "Oh Harry, your aunt is **horrible**!"

  Harry laughed, a little taken aback "I've been telling you horror stories of what it's like to live with them for four years and you still hadn't guessed?"

  Hermione broke the hug, a little embarrassed at her show of emotion and gave him a wry smile. "I guess I just hadn't realised quite how bad it all was, I'm sorry."

  He waved his hand and shook his head to indicate that he didn't mind and she stepped back to let everyone else see him. Harry met Ginny's eyes and gave her a smile and a nod, then turned to Ron.

  "Well Harry, don't look so shocked, at least you got a hug from her, I got a punch in the guts!" teased Ron, although Hermione though she heard the faintest hint of hurt in his voice. However, when she looked at him, he seemed happy enough, so she decided to ignore it. Unfortunately, Harry had no such idea and proceeded to grill her about it.

  "What? You can't be angry with him already Hermione!"

  Hermione folded her arms, narrowed her eyes and gave Ron a half-serious glare "Well I wasn't until a second ago! Anyway, we were on my doorstep and he was saying I was short!"

  Harry, who was still barely taller than Hermione took her side for this one and they both turned on Ron waiting for an answer. Mr Weasley and Ginny had taken Harry's trunk and were currently trying to fit it in the boot of the car with Hermione's. Ron looked as if he would much rather be over there helping than here being confronted by his two best friends who, despite being short, were managing to look quite formidable.

  "**She** brought it up!"

  "Oh hardly! I said that **you** had grown again!"

  "Exactly, if that isn't bringing up the issue of height then I don't know what is!"

  "Yes, but that's no excuse for making fun of me for my height"

  "Or lack of!" said Ron with a chuckle

  Though both were still smiling, Harry could see this turning into an argument, so he decided to intervene. "Alright, so you said she was short and she punched you, now that that's all settled, I think you ought to give Ron a hug Hermione, he obviously wanted one!"

  That shut both of them up. Harry smirked and watched the two fidget and avoid looking at each other. Although neither one had admitted to him that they liked the other (and he wasn't sure if Ron had even figured it out yet!), Harry had guessed and was looking forward to a bit of gentle teasing (and not so gentle if the twins had figured it out and got involved!) in the next few weeks. He was certainly going to need the entertainment - the past few weeks had been extremely difficult for him, with memories of the events of the third task coming to him un-bidden during every spare moment he had. As he stood there watching his two friends, he felt a surge of happiness at being with them again. There had been no one to talk to, and even though he had no intention of burdening his friends with news of the nightmarish visions he had been having, it would be good to have the distractions and comfort they would provide.

  "Hmmmm?" he prompted, enjoying the situation more and more.

  "Um, Harry, I was only joking, I mean I don't **really** care about the hug, you know, it's just a hug" stuttered Ron, his ears turning bright red and his face about to follow suit.  

  "Oh for heaven's sake!" huffed Hermione, pulling Ron into a rather awkward hug. He stood there frozen in shock for a minute before wrapping his arms around her and squeezing lightly, sending a 'HELP ME' look to Harry from over Hermione's head. Harry grinned, a little shocked at Hermione's daring, then, with a shrug to Ron, turned to see Mr Weasley with a look of mild confusion on his face and Ginny, eyes wide, grinning as if Christmas had come early. **_Ah, she knows then? This is going to be more fun than I thought!_******He walked towards the car, giving Mr Weasley a shrug, denying all responsibility for the strange behaviour of his friends. Mr Weasley shrugged back, apparently too shocked to care if Harry had anything to do with it or not, but Ginny narrowed her eyes slightly and cocked her head to one side, as if questioning Harry's innocence and he gave her a quick wink.

  Back at the front door, Hermione was just getting used to the feel of Ron's arms around her when she noticed that, not only was Harry leaving them, but also they were being watched by the Dusleys from through the front window. She pulled hurriedly away from Ron, who looked slightly offended before he too noticed their current situation.

  "Uh right, um, thanks" he mumbled, ears flaming and cheeks almost as red.

  "Er, that's ok, I really should have done that earlier, sorry"

  Unsure of what to say or do, Ron looked away and caught sight of the Dursleys again. Angry, he scowled and made a rude gesture at them through the window. They looked shocked and Mrs Dursley tried in vain to cover Dudley's eyes. Seeing Mr Dursley turning an interesting shade of purple, Hermione took Ron's arm "Right, lets go before he decides to come out and reply to that charming display. You're lucky your dad didn't see that Ron!"

  "Yeah, well they deserve it!" he replied angrily as she dragged him toward the car.

  "True, very true, but we ought to be leaving nonetheless!"

  "Hmmph," was Ron's reply, but he picked up his speed and they soon reached the car.

  "Oh, you've decided to join us?" teased Ginny and Harry stifled a laugh.

  Attempting to control her blushing, Hermione nodded and replied, "Yes, and I think we should be going if possible, I have a feeling the Dursleys aren't too happy with Ron the moment."

  This seemed to register with Mr Weasley because he came out of the confused state he had been in and demanded to know **why** the Dursleys wouldn't be too happy with Ron.

  "Did I say Ron?" covered Hermione, "I meant **us**, uh, I just get the feeling they want us to leave." She gestured towards the window where the Dursleys were still peeping out of the window.

  "Hmmmm," replied Mr Weasley, but seemed convinced enough to let it go as he got into the car and gestured for the others to do so too. Ginny leapt into the front passenger seat with a triumphant grin at Ron, who, being the tallest by far, would have benefited far more from the extra space the front seat offered than her. He shrugged to show he didn't care but did feel a little resentful as he squeezed in the back seat next to Harry. However, all thoughts of Ginny and the front seat were banished the minute Hermione got into the car. With Ron in the back it was quite a tight fit and Hermione's entire right side was squashed up next to Ron's left. He felt the heat of her body and was surprised to feel a tingling sensation covering his entire body, but certainly emanating from where they touched. **_Huh? What the hell is happening? What is this tingling and WHY did that hug feel so weird? Why can't I think properly, arrrgh!_** Ron decided that since thinking appeared to be out of the question at that point in time he would ignore all the strange things he was feeling and think about it when… well, when he could actually think straight! So he chatted to Harry about their summers and secretly enjoyed the tingling, even if he didn't understand it, and as he relaxed he decided that being squashed in the back was ok really because he was squashed in the back with his friends and they made him happy.

A/N: Oh god how soppy! Oh well, I'm in a soppy mood and I'm the author (mwahahahahah, I could get used to this!). Sorry this one was so short, it just seemed like the best place to stop! As does this, so toodleoo!


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